For taxpayers who receive an IRS IP PIN annually, be on the lookout in January 2022 for a letter from the IRS with your 2021 IP PIN number. These letters, IRS Notice CP01A, are sent out annually to taxpayers via the US mail. Be sure to retain this notice with your other annual tax documents and provide a copy to your tax preparer this winter as the IP PIN is needed to file your tax return electronically.
The purpose of the IP PIN is to enhance security when electronically filing your tax return. The 6-digit number prevents someone else from filing a fraudulent tax return using your social security number. Each year the IRS will send taxpayers a new 6-digit code to be used on their individual tax return. Prior to January 2021, IP PINs were only available to taxpayers that had a prior year tax return fraudulently filed using their social security number. Beginning with personal tax returns being filed for the 2020 tax year, the IRS expanded their security program by allowing all taxpayers to obtain an IP PIN.
Taxpayers can obtain their own IP PIN at: https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/get-an-identity-protection-pin
Or if you never received your annual IRS Notice CP01A from the IRS or lost your copy of the notice, you can retrieve your current year IP PIN at: https://www.irs.gov/identity-theft-fraud-scams/retrieve-your-ip-pin
Need my pin number
How do I opt out of the IP PIN?
Hi Khalia, Currently you can’t “opt out” once you are in the IRS IP PIN program. The IRS has said it plans to offer an opt-out feature sometime in 2022 but it’s expected to only be offered to people who voluntarily signed up for an IP PIN. For taxpayers that are confirmed victims of identity theft, it isn’t expected that they’ll be eligible to opt-out.
Until the IRS rolls out a change to the program, you still must use an IP PIN to confirm your identity on all federal tax returns you file this year and in subsequent tax years. If you e-file your return and your IP PIN is missing or incorrect, the IRS will reject your return. An IP PIN is valid for one calendar year and the IRS will send a new IP PIN each year to you.